President Trump doesn't think criminal justice reform is the ticket to another four years in the White House, Politico reports.

Jared Kushner, a White House senior adviser who doubles as Trump's son-in-law, reportedly urged the president this spring to highlight the passage of last year's First Step Act — a sweeping, bipartisan criminal justice reform bill — during his upcoming re-election campaign. But Trump reportedly told Kushner that he didn't think his voting base would care that much about it. In fact, Politico notes it likely lacks appeal to some members of his base, especially in rural parts of the country, where Trump supporters tend to respond better to hard-line, partisan crime rhetoric.

"It was clear he thinks it's a total dud," a person familiar with the spring meeting said. "He made it abundantly clear he doesn't think it's talking worth about."

That actually might not be a new development, either. Sure, Trump has touted the bill and brings it up at social events, in response to reporters, and when speaking to religious groups, but it's reportedly never been all that high on his priority list. "It would be difficult to say it's a change of heart," an anonymous White House official said. "I don't think his heart was ever really in it."

The official added that some Trump aides questioned why he endorsed the bill in the first place. Another White House official, however, told Politico that the idea Trump doesn't care about the First Step Act is "false" and he the president is "clearly proud of all of his record-setting accomplishments." Read more at Politico. Tim O'Donnell

A bipartisan bill proposal could help end what its sponsors consider a "perpetual state" of probation and parole violations that keeps many formerly incarcerated citizens trapped within the correctional system, The Hill reports.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Jordan Harris (D) teamed up with colleague Rep. Sheryl Delozier (R), as well as rapper Meek Mill's Reform Alliance, which initially proposed the bill, last month to introduce the bill. If passed and signed, it would eliminate consecutive probation sentences and prohibit probation extensions over the nonpayment of fines and costs. Harris told The Hill that judges can currently extend probation parole times indefinitely, leading to the aforementioned perpetual state.

"Probation and parole is like the quicksand of the criminal justice system," he said. "The moment that you get in, it's hard to get out."

Delozier, the bill's lead sponsor, added that the bill would also allow former inmates more flexibility, mentioning, for example, that a parolee would be able to work with his or her parole officer to reschedule parole meetings for things like job interviews. That doesn't mean there won't be consequences if someone does break the rules of their probation, Delozier said, but "the flexibility does need to be there."

Pennsylvania has the second-highest rate of citizens on probation or parole in the U.S. Read more at The Hill. Tim O'Donnell

President Trump on Friday signed the First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill which received support from a wide range of lawmakers and advocacy organizations.

Though criticized by some on the left as too cautious and by opponents on the right as too lenient, the First Step Act was championed in the White House by Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. It passed the Senate Tuesday, 87-12, and the House approved the Senate's version of the bill Thursday with a 358-36 vote.

"The First Step Act is by no means perfect," said the ACLU's Jesselyn McCurdy. "But we are in the midst of a mass incarceration crisis, and the time to act is now."

The law's main concern is sentencing reform, giving judges greater discretion in sentencing for some future convictions. It also makes retroactive a prior sentencing reform law and slightly expands the circumstances under which inmates can earn earlier transfer to pre-release custody. First Step only applies to the federal prison system, which means about nine in 10 of America's 2.1 million inmates won't be affected. Bonnie Kristian

President Trump on Wednesday announced he is in favor of a bipartisan proposal to rewrite the country's prison and sentencing laws.

"It's the right thing to do," he said during an event at the White House. Called the First Step Act, this tentative legislative package adds to a prison overhaul bill the House passed earlier this year. It includes shortening mandatory minimum sentences for some nonviolent drug offenses and changes the "three strikes" penalty from life in prison to 25 years, The New York Times reports. It will also roll back some of the federal policies from the 1980s and 1990s that disproportionately affect African-Americans and fund anti-recidivism programs.

Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner is the biggest proponent of the package in the administration, and he presented the deal to Trump on Tuesday. Trump urged Congress to agree to a final bill quickly so he can sign it. There are 2.2 million prisoners in the United States. Catherine Garcia

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Sunday signed two new laws intended to make investigations of police misconduct more transparent to the public.

Senate Bill 1421 gives the public access to internal departmental investigations of police shootings and other professional misconduct, like violence, sexual assault, and deception. Assembly Bill 748 is the state's first significant regulation of police body cameras, requiring departments to make public any audio or video of serious misconduct cases within 45 days of the incident unless doing so would undermine an active investigation.

"Unfortunately, over the years, we the people have been stripped of the power to oversee and hold law enforcement accountable for their use — and abuse — of these powers," said Peter Bibring of the American Civil Liberties Union of California. "Having an open government that is accountable to the people it serves is not merely an ideal to strive for; it is a necessity to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our families and communities," he added. "Nowhere is that more apparent than in policing." Bonnie Kristian

Kim Kardashian West may be tweeting about shiny hair, Mother's Day gifts, and husband Kanye West, but behind the scenes, she's working on more serious matters.

Kardashian West is in talks with White House officials to advocate for a presidential pardon for a nonviolent drug offender serving a life sentence, Mic reported Wednesday.

The reality TV star took interest in 62-year-old Alice Marie Johnson's case after seeing a Micvideo that recounted Johnson's conviction. Kardashian West has had several phone calls with Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser, in hopes of convincing Trump to consider a pardon. Conversations have been ongoing for several months, reports Mic, and have apparently led to White House attorneys reviewing Johnson's case files.

Johnson has been in federal prison since 1996, convicted of facilitating communications in a drug trafficking case. She faces life in prison with no opportunity for parole — a severe sentence that criminal justice reform advocates say exemplifies a need for change. Kardashian West called the case "unfair" in October, and sent a team of lawyers to work on freeing Johnson soon afterwards.

A representative for Kardashian West confirmed to Mic that she has been in contact with the White House about Johnson's case. Read more at Mic.Summer Meza

The Justice Department said in a court filing Thursday night that holding people in jail purely because they are too poor to pay a fixed bail fee is a violation of their constitutional rights. This is the first time the DOJ has made this argument in a federal appeals court.

"Although the imposition of bail ... may result in a person's incarceration, the deprivation of liberty in such circumstances is not based solely on inability to pay," the amicus curiae brief said. "But fixed bail schedules that allow for the pretrial release of only those who can pay, without accounting for ability to pay and alternative methods of assuring future appearance, do not provide for such individualized determinations, and therefore unlawfully discriminate based on indigence."

The DOJ's reasoning particularly targets pretrial detentions of those arrested for low-level, nonviolent offenses — people whose release would pose no threat to society at large. This distinguishes between people held on bail because they're dangerous and those held only because they're poor.

The brief was filed in the case of Maurice Walker of Calhoun, Georgia, who was arrested for walking while drunk and held for six days in jail before trial. He could not pay $160 bail because he lives on a monthly Social Security disability stipend of $530. Bonnie Kristian

President Obama commuted the sentences of 61 federal prisoners serving time for drug crimes on Wednesday, marking the first round of major commutations the White House has planned for this year to reform the criminal justice system. The majority of the inmates will be freed on July 28, and some will be released on March 30, 2017. More than one-third of the inmates were serving life sentences.

"I believe America is a nation of second chances," Obama wrote on Facebook Wednesday, advocating for "hard work, responsibility, and better choices." Obama has now commuted 248 sentences — more than the previous six presidents combined. Becca Stanek